Cellmates

Ayden sat frozen, eyes wide and unblinking, emitting no other reaction until Damian sat in front of her, Elena at her side, having pulled the bound girl into a tight, yet gentle hug.

"Ayden! You're here! You're alive! You're—" Elena's eyes widened in terror when she took in the sixteen-year-old's appearance. "Covered in blood... what happened to you?"

But Ayden remained unresponsive, eyes locked on the spot they had previously been sitting at. Frowning slightly, Elena waved her hand in front of Ayden's face, trying to snap her out of whatever empty reverie she seemed to be stuck in, calling out her name and even shaking her slightly.

Finally, after about a minute or two, Ayden blinked her way back into reality. She frowned slightly in confusion, uncertain of why she had even been staring at an empty spot on the floor before her head snapped up at the sound of her name being called out by two familiar voices. She blinked again, uncertain if what she was seeing was real or just a hallucination.

"Elena?" she croaked. "Damian?"

Damian sighed in relief while his sister cracked a smile.

"Carmi?"

Ayden groaned. "... don't... call me that," she grunted, flopping her back onto the cold, stone floor.

Elena's small smile turned into a grin, though, as she opened her mouth to speak, she was cut off by the guard who threw Ayden in.

"Here." He threw in a small bag. "You are permitted to have your toys, but nothing else."

Ayden gave him a cold look. "And you expect me to do what with them? My hands and legs are still tied up, you jackass."

"I don't expect you to do anything, that's why I kept you bound. Your possessions have been looked over, so you have nothing that can help you escape."

She gave him a humorless smile. "Oh, trust me when I say I'll get out of here with my own bare hands."

The guard let out a mocking, throaty laugh. "You can keep dreaming!" And with that, he turned, about to leave, though he stopped when he reached the door. "Oh, and don't think about putting that down in your petty journalist notes." Then he was gone.

Ayden groaned. "I don't know how you knew about the journalist part, but it wasn't petty!" she called after him defensively, though whether he heard or not, she could not tell as he was already gone.

She sighed. How did they know all these things about her? Yes, she was a journalist at one point, when she was fourteen, though... she wasn't really. She had temporarily taken on the job, mainly because of the money, but it was also because she needed the work she got out of it for her Research Methods class, in which she had decided to do an individual project for extra credits.

However, she never put it on her file when she enrolled to become a soldier... or did she? She couldn't remember it well as it had been a long time ago, but how could they know? She would understand them knowing about her being Captain of an entire American military unit, but all those small details she never mentioned or wrote down? At this point she believed she'd be rather surprised if they actually got her age wrong and thought she was nineteen; Doolittle and the board had made sure that stayed out of any file for as long as she was in service.

"You guys came here with the team?"

"Yeah, but they're all at the beach... well, that was where we left them."

"And when was that?"

"Erm... hours ago? I don't know, those bastards took our things."

"Well, if you guys have been gone for long, then they've probably already set out to look for you, and have most likely been captured."

"How do you know that?"

"Well, it's not like it hasn't happened to, like, hundreds of people that have been stranded here," Ayden replied sarcastically.

"How—"

"Don't ask."

After almost ten minutes of struggling alone to free herself from the ropes as she didn't want her teammates' help, Ayden brought one of the ropes to her nose and sniffed it closely, cringing at the scent it emitted.

"Gah! I should've known they were somehow related to the whole thing..." she grumbled under her breath, throwing the rope as far away from herself as she could. "How'd they find me?"

"How did who find you?" Elena blurted out, watching her friend jump onto her feet and begin to examine the contours of the cell.

"You know what happened to me before I ended up here." It wasn't a question. "If you hadn't, you wouldn't have found out I was here. These people... I don't think all of them, but some of them are linked to the experiment— to Clayton."

She looked back at Damian when she said the name. He frowned, getting up onto his feet as well. "How can you know?"

"They did... things to me and gave me a weakness. A sedative that's strong enough knock me out and keep me vulnerable for a long period of time. It's still in my system, even after three weeks." She exhaled. "The ropes they had on me just now? They sprayed 'em with it."

An individual applause emitted from the door, causing the trio to snap their heads its way, Elena slowly rising as well to stand behind her brother. A man in his late forties came through, a smirk on his wrinkled face.

"You never cease to amaze me, Aliema."

She growled, taking on a protective stance in front of the Russian siblings. "My. Name. Is. Ayden."

"Mental age is still equivalent to that of an adult. Attitude is that of a regular teenager; moody, stubborn, rebellious."

All three pairs of eyes widened at the familiar dialogue, though they weren't all thinking in the same lines. Elena and Damian were thinking back how those lines were in the first entry they read from Dr. Clayton's journal; Ayden was thinking how she recognized the man before them, yet she couldn't remember his name. She knew he'd been there throughout the experimentation, that he'd helped torture her, but almost nothing else.

"You—"

"Tell me something," she dared herself to cut him off. "Do you have a Mathias working for you?"

He tilted his head to the side, his smirk, however, never wavering. "I have an ally named Mathias. Why? Was he lucky enough to cross you before me?"

Ayden gritted his teeth as she slammed her hands against the bars of the cell, glaring fiercely at him. "I will get out of here. I can promise you that. And then, I will kill you and all your precious little allies and minions," she growled lowly, yet loud enough for only him to hear, unbeknown to her, however, that Damian could somehow hear her now as well; he frowned at her words.

"As long as you are the one behind the bars, your threats won't do me any harm."

She have him an almost sardonic grin, her eyes flashing blue for a moment. "I still stand by my promise, Doctor. And you should fear me; I always keep my promises," she warned him before stepping away from the bars.

His smirk didn't waver. "You should note that down for yourself; journalists make too many promises, though they never keep them." And with that, he walked out, leaving a flabbergasted Ayden behind.

"How the heck did you even know about that?!" she called after him, but she was only replied a muffled laugh. She huffed; she didn't care about them knowing about that anymore, she just wanted to know why they were even mocking her about it.

Sure, she hadn't been the best journalist— she hadn't even been an actual journalist. One of her friends who was studying journalism had an aunt who was actually a journalist. His aunt happened to like Ayden well enough that Ayden managed to snatch up the post of a temporary journalist and so she had called herself when she met Jake, before they'd started dating.

She sighed when it was clear the man was gone, and walked over to a corner, a small smile only making its way onto her lips when she noticed Elena on the ground, at the other corner, sound asleep. Huh, and she was the light sleeper. She leaned her head back against the wall as she tried to recollect herself, completely ignoring the pair of striking, light blue eyes staring intently at her.

"You never really were a journalist, were you?"

She bit her lip, shifting uneasily from her spot in the corner of the cell they were being held in. "I was a temporary journalist."

"Bullshit." Damian shook his head. "I heard what the guy said. Why didn't you tell me?"

She scoffed, walking over to the only window in the cell, which was also barred up. "Why would I tell you?"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, I don't know... maybe because we've known each other for over half a year now and we're supposed to be trusting each other?" he replied sarcastically before emphasizing. "Like normal companions would on a dangerous adventure."

This time, she rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, thank you for the suggestion, Mr. Sarcasm, but I think it's pretty obvious why I didn't tell you," she snapped.

"Really? Please enlighten me then, Miss Jaubert!"

She clenched and unclenched her jaw. "It's Captain to you, and are you really naive enough to believe that a war is the only place one could gain an enemy?" Her eyes were intense as they looked at him. "Do you honestly believe he is my first and only rival? Or that Clayton is the only one who was after me?"

He was silent for a moment before he got the hint. "Who?"

Ayden didn't answer him immediately. "Lorenzo," was all she said as she leaned against the wall, fumbling with the necklace he had seen her wear just as often as the black onyx guitar-shaped one; it was a small head of a Taurus, carved out of wood, hanging from a thin white ribbon.

Damian furrowed his brows, thinking for a moment before his eyes widened and he walked to stand in front of her. "Louis?"

"Luciano," she corrected, a slight Latin-American accent rolling off her tongue when she said the name.

Luciano Lorenzo was another scientist they had found working in Al-Qaeda when their mission to wipe it out first began. One of the first facilities had been located in New Jersey, and when they had wiped it out, they found out about him, however under the alias Louis Logan, and how he had escaped, then found him later on, after tracking him down, ready to board a plane at the airport, only to find their Captain frozen in shock and surprise.

Damian rolled his eyes. "Not my fault the Italian tried to pass off as an American," he muttered before looking her in the eyes.

It turned out she had known him before the army, as someone else.

"What did he want from you?"

Ayden sighed as she let her backslide against the stone wall until she was on the floor. "He was an obsessed jackass."

"And you paid him no mind because..."

She sighed again. "You met him; I'm sure you can guess how he is."

Ayden had known him as Luis Feliciano, an incredibly rich college professor who taught biochemistry at her school. She never had him as a teacher, though one of her friends did, and, when they met, she instantly knew she wouldn't like him. At the time, she had started dating Jake, and he, too, did not like the thirty-year-old professor.

"Obsessive, possessive, demanding, psychotic, blah, blah— whatever, I know, but he's rich."

But it turned out that Jake and Ayden were right to be suspicious about him as, only a few months later after meeting, they found out what a perverted pedophile he was when she had interviewed him on his job for her Research Methods project as she was still a temporary journalist at the time. The fact of his perversity was only proven when he was discovered to have been following her around, even going as far as spying on her when a girl should be given her privacy. Him being a pedophile... well, he was a freakin' thirty-year-old man stalking a fourteen-year-old girl! She confronted him when Jake had taken her to a shooting range for their four-month anniversary, and to say she was furious with the man for his advances was an understatement.

Ayden looked at Damian with wide eyes, then laughed in disbelief. "You think I'm a money seeker?"

"No, I—"

"I'm a thrill seeker, Grayson. Even the lil' ol' journalist I used to be was a thrill seeker. Why do you think people called me reckless?"

"They still do."

She rolled her eyes. "Me being a thrill seeker, I went on my own little adventures before... before all this." She paused, motioning around them. "And though I just so happened to find things on my little adventures, all I really wanted was the thrill of the ride. But... the objects I found, I never necessarily kept them for the prize— my prize was and always will be the satisfaction of going on an adventure to find it all. I don't care about gold."

He stared at her for a moment. "He tried to buy you."

Luciano had been obsessed with the young girl to no end. However, it wasn't her personality or looks that attracted him, like it'd been for other people. No, it was always her reaction. He loved the way she reacted to anything, and he wished to see how she would react in experiments. Of course, he would've never told her that, but she guessed it as the only thing the man was known to love, other than himself, was his scientific projects, and though he didn't say it outright to her face that he wanted to experiment on the prodigy, she saw through his words instantly and, though it was accidental, she never regretted the way she reacted, even if she'd had to grab Jake's hand and run out of the shooting range, never to return to that place as she was soon banned for causing harm.

"And I shot him, which was a mistake— that only got him more obsessed over me."

Damian chuckled as he went to sit on the ground, right beside her. "Ever thought of just stopping?"

From the time he'd known her, he had come to find out how much she actually loved adventure; she had even admitted once or twice that if she hadn't chosen to study law, she would've gone into archaeology and become an archaeologist or an explorer. She did always have luck when it came to finding things, after all— heck, she could find something of extreme value on a beach.

She scoffed. "Not unless I went through something more fatal than a war like the one we're currently in. Or even this little one on this stupid island. I wouldn't just leave out of tiredness." She stared at the barred door and sighed.

"What's life without adventure?" Damian agreed.

She smiled. "A life without adventure is likely to be unsatisfying, but a life in which adventure is allowed to take whatever form it will is sure to be short."

He chuckled. "And settling down?"

She chuckled softly and shrugged. "I'm only sixteen; I haven't really given it a thought," she said, looking down at her hands.

"Okay, that's another lie, right there." He shook his head. "You don't wanna settle down, do ya? You don't wanna be with someone?"

"Well, I can't just hook up with just anyone," she retorted.

He shook his head. "Nah, I don't think it's about hooking up with anyone, it's something else."

She sighed. "Grayson..."

"What's stopping you?" he insisted. "What's really holding you back?"

She frowned. "I... I don't really know," she admitted.

"But there's something, you just don't wanna admit it."

She didn't answer.

"What are you afraid of?" he asked more softly. "Love?"

"I don't... I don't know, okay?!" she exclaimed, getting up onto her feet and pacing around for a moment before going to stand by the bars of the cell. "For years I've been looking for something that's only led me to dead ends... and yet I still bother and I don't even know why..." She halted in her pace, frowning, her eyes shifting to the ground. "I... I just don't know anymore. What I've wanted and what I want now... it's never been clear. I know that with time everything changes, but... I still don't know what I really want."

He shook his head, a deep chuckle rumbling in his throat as he got up and stood right behind her. "'Course you know what you want, you just won't accept that it's the same as what everybody else wants."

She turned to look at him, eying him dubiously. "And how do you know that?" she asked.

Taking one step toward her, testing the salt water, he said, "Because, for as long as I can remember, I've wanted it too."

For a moment, all they could do was stare into each other's eyes. She wanted to look away, she really did; staring into his eyes made her feel strange inside. In what way, she had no idea, but she just had to look away, but she just couldn't.

Suddenly, it almost felt as though they were too close to each other, even though there was quite a long distance between them.

Clearing her throat, she managed to speak steadily. "And what is it? A mysterious stranger I just met on an island and just happens to have all the answers?"

Damian shrugged. "Well, first off, though technically we did meet on an island, I'm not a stranger anymore, even less mysterious. As for having all the answers... well, I have been going around for a while, long enough to learn a few things."

"So Damian, tell me, what is it?" she repeated, tilting her head to the side curiously.

For long, seemingly endless seconds, Damian said nothing. Suddenly, a small smile curled onto his lips as he stepped even closer, placing his hands on her hips, making her hyperaware of the very short distance left between them. "An all-consuming love. Passion and adventure..." A small smirk replaced the smile on his lips as he added in a playful manner, "And even a little danger."

"Is that what you still want?" she asked him softly, surprising herself, for she only used such a tone with her family.

It was his turn to shrug. "Well, no one wants a love that hurts."

She laughed softly, looking into his light blue eyes. "I don't think anyone can find love that won't hurt them in some way."

"You just gotta look more thoroughly."

Ayden scoffed half-heartedly. "Yeah? Who the hell can give that to me?"

He leaned in closer till his lips were hovering over hers. "Me," he answered before kissing her sweetly and passionately.

It took her a few moments to grasp what just happened, though when she finally realized it, she pulled as far away as she could and regarded him with wide eyes.

"You just kissed me," she whispered.

He gave her a small smile, caressing her cut cheek. "I know."

She frowned, stepping away from him. "You can't do that."

This time, he frowned. He took a step toward her, but she immediately stepped backward, both unaware of the large figure that entered their cell. "Ayden—"

"No! You can't do th—"

BANG!

Damian fell to the ground, a bullet forged into his forehead.

Ayden let out an emotionally pained scream as she stepped forward. She saw the bullet fall from his skull and the hole beginning to close, but she couldn't seem to grasp that; all she could think was how he was shot in the head before a stabbing pain was inflicted into her neck and she found herself fading out of consciousness, the last sound coming to her ear being Elena's voice shouting out her name as she felt herself being dragged away.

When Ayden woke up with a gasp and they removed the black plastic bag from her head. They had drugged her again, then placed a plastic bag on her head. It had been a miracle that she hadn't suffocated to death.

Suddenly, the bag was ripped from her head and she found herself strapped onto a metal table, her arms tied to her sides, making her unable to move at all. She lifted her head the most she could and glanced around, her jaw tightening when she saw the man come into the laboratory-like room. It was the last man to have mocked her in the cell she'd shared with the Shostakovitch siblings, and the one she recognized to have attended to the torturous experimentation proceeded upon her.

Her head exhaustively slammed back onto the table; they had sedated her again, weakening her every move.

"I recognize you now," she slurred. "You're Doctor Cake... no... Blake."

He gave her an empty smile, then proceeded by checking Ayden's eyes with a flashlight before checking her stomach.

"As much as I would like a free checkup," she said, looking him straight in the eye. "You're gonna let me go."

The Doctor smiled again and patted Ayden on the shoulder. "That's a good try, but your ability to compel has not been activated yet."

She snorted drunkenly. "Activated? Pft. You're talking like you put some kind of... some kind of microchip or something in me..."

"Actually, we did. We put it in your neck before the Serum, though it hasn't been activated yet. I think I'll have to replace it, though. The controls to activate the one you currently have, have been destroyed throughout your savage little tantrum."

She rolled her eyes in annoyance. "You know, most people would buy me dinner first," she replied sarcastically.

He chuckled. He fuckin' chuckled. "This isn't a personal matter."

She scoffed. "That's what Lorenzo said, and look how that turned out!" she muttered.

He chuckled again. "Ah, yes, Luciano Lorenzo."

"Oh, great, you know him."

"He's how I know about you. It was only a... coincidence that I happened to had joined Clayton on his little experimentation, and that you happened to have been the chosen experiment. No, wait.. you hadn't been chosen. You simply decided to play hero and take your boyfriend's place."

She growled. "He's not my boyfriend," she snapped.

He rolled his eyes, his experimenting never faltering. "Nevertheless, as I said before, it's nothing personal. It's just for the advancement of science."

"Psycho-Einstein, what the hell are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

"Fine, then, elaborate."

He sighed. "Dr. Clayton turned you into some kind of vampiric super soldier. I don't know if your blood can heal others as it is unreproducible, but I do know that your body heals itself. You'll regenerate parts of internal organs," He picked up a scalpel. "After I remove them."

Ayden seemed to snap out of her drunkenness at those words. "Listen. How I got this amazing body has nothing to do with science. It was a simple miracle that I survived that explosion, and my vitals have already been checked. I am unreproducible, so running— AAH!" She was cut off by Dr. Blake stabbing her with the scalpel on her eye.

"You talk too much."

And he unstrapped her, and she fell to the ground, wheezing in pain for a long moment before falling out of consciousness.

Damian's eyes snapped open and he instantly sat up, immediately regretting it when he was almost thrown back down by the pounding headache he had.

"Ow," he groaned, running a hand across his face.

Elena yelped in shock and surprise. "Damian?!"

He groaned again, covering his eyes. "Not so loud, would ya? I've got a killer heada—"

"That's because you were shot in the head!" He cringed, and she immediately apologized. "Sorry, it's just... you're not even supposed... you're— how are you alive?"

"I... I don't kn—"

Damian was cut off by a deep, rumbling growl, and then a high-pitched scream that was horribly familiar. Elena squealed, terrified, and covered her ears, shutting her eyes tight as tears kept pouring from them and rolling down her reddened cheeks. Damian dragged himself across the ground over to his sister and pulled her into his arms.

"They took her," he heard her mumble. "We just got her back and he took her again," she sobbed. "They're torturing her, Damian!"

"Shh, Lena," he hushed her, holding her tighter against him. "We'll find a way out, and we'll escape with Ayden, okay?"

"How?"

"... I don't know, but we'll get out of here."

"Hey." Poke. "Hey... er... little girl..." Poke. "Wake up." Poke. "You awake?" Poke.

She groaned, weakly trying to swat the hand that kept poking her face away, to no avail, however. "I am now," she grumbled. "Who... what..."

She didn't seem able to articulate more, and that got her frowning. However, she remained with her eyes closed as she could still feel the stinging pain from her eye being stabbed. That, and there was also the fact that she was blindfolded. Confused, she raised a hand to her face, though she found herself hissing in slight pain when she felt her wrists being pulled back by a soaked rope.

"Yup, you're tied down too," an unfamiliar voice said. It was a girl, that much Ayden knew.

"Who..."

"I'm Rosalie... and you're Ayden."

Ayden's brows furrowed as she backed away warily. "How..."

"I was on the Endurance too. I've crossed you a few times in the halls with Steph?" No response. "On deck?" No reply. She groaned. "I'm blonde!"

Ayden frowned, then felt her brows raise slightly in recognition. She remembered now, meeting a blonde girl who always stuck by Stephanie. Sam called them the blond duo as they were like two peas in a pod; it was rare to see them apart.

"Rosalie... Bains?"

Rosalie grinned and nodded, mentally face-palming herself when she remembered Ayden couldn't see her.

"Did they..." Ayden cleared her throat. "Did they do anything to you?"

"They injected me with something that heals me quickly... and that lets me breathe underwater. I know that part because they tried to drown me after I healed from the cuts on my arms, but... surprise, surprise— I'm Aquamarine without a tail."

"How long..."

"It's been about a week and a half since the shipwreck... and two days since we've both been in this cell, though I think you've been experimented on longer. They experimented on me two days ago since you were still out like a corpse, but they haven't done anything since then, nor to the other pair."

"... the other pair?"

Rosalie hummed in confirmation. "A girl about your age, and a dude— probably her brother— about my age, though they've been separated, and the guy's not as lucky as me or her. They've been starving him. At least to me and the girl, they've given food— oh! I saved some for you. I could guess you haven't eaten anything since that one time on the ship and you threw up— and I'm gonna stop talking now. Sorry, I usually babble when I'm nervous."

"It's fine," Ayden murmured. She was relieved to hear that Elena was somewhat alright, but they were still hurting her. And Damian! God, the memory of how they met still somewhat terrified Ayden, and to think that they might be doing worse things to him...

"Here." She felt Rosalie press something dry, yet slightly soft against her lips. Ayden recoiled; what the hell was she trying to give her? "It's bread. I'm tied down too, but not as much as you... do you want me to take the blindfold off? Your eye must be healed already."

Ayden sighed. "You heard?"

"I think I would've heard it from another country— it was so loud! Sorry!" she quickly added.

Ayden let out a half-hearted chuckle. "It's fine. Could you...?" She motioned toward her face.

Rosalie nodded and put the bread aside before getting closer to Ayden and gently beginning to untie the blindfold. Once it was loose around the young girl's eyes, she let it fall. The girl sat there, breathing heavily, her eyes still closed. It hurt. She could feel it to have already been healed, but the pain was still there, and she was visibly scared of opening her eyes; she was afraid of finding out whether she was blind again. Though at the time, she had somehow become capable of following heat signatures with her then blind eyes, the idea of not being able to see at all was frightening, especially for someone who had already experienced it.

"Hey," Rosalie said softly, placing a gentle hand on the side of her face. "It's okay. You're gonna be okay."

"You don't know that," Ayden whispered.

Rosalie gave her a small smile, even though she could not see it through her closed eyes. "You're right, I don't. But neither of us will if you don't open your eyes."

Ayden let out a small whimper. "I... I'm..."

"Scared, I know." A faint blush made its way onto Ayden's lightly scarred cheeks. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about; it's alright to be scared, even for a soldier. You're just a kid, you don't have to act so though, never mind that you're a Captain."

Ayden bit her lip.

"Come on," Rosalie encouraged. "Don't you wanna see what I look like? I mean, I'm pretty sure all you've got in mind is the blond hair."

The look on Ayden's face turned sheepish.

Rosalie chuckled. "Don't worry about," she soothed. "If it turns out you can't see, well, you'll have me to help you out."

A panicked looked made its way onto the Canadian's face. "Don't say that," she whispered. "Every person... everyone that says that... they always end up leaving— walking away, or dead. Don't say you'll be there—"

"But I will. Come on, Ayden. Just go slowly... we'll count to three. Together, okay?"

Ayden was silent for a moment, before finally giving a small nod.

Rosalie smiled. "Alright. One," she said, then Ayden joined her in a whisper. "Two..."

Three.

Her eyes fluttered open, her long lashes brushing against her cheekbones, emitting a small awed gasp from Rosalie as her blue-green eyes locked themselves with a pair of tricolor orbs. It was strange, yet quite beautiful, especially on a girl like Ayden, who had natural beauty, despite the many scars on her skin. Ayden stared blankly in front of her, for a moment, blinking owlishly, before a small smile made its way onto her face.

She could see, and what she saw was what brought her relief; she would much rather open her eyes to a nice, pretty girl, than those assholes who were enjoyed torturing her. Though she had a few scars here and there, Rosalie was a beautiful young woman with a pale complexion, blue-green eyes and medium length blonde hair which was slightly wavy, despite it being messy. She was visibly tall (probably as tall as she was herself) and slim, with the toned and athletic figure of a cheerleader.

"I can see," she whispered.

Rosalie gave her a radiant smile that pretty much illuminated the room, despite the actual setting and current circumstances. "See? I told you there was nothing to worry about. Now, here."

She had to feed Ayden as the young girl's movements were limited due to her bounds. Though it was a really small portion of food, it was rather satisfying. However, it was dry, and the burn in her throat was coming back.

"Oh, right. They left that thing there for you."

"What thing?"

"This." Rosalie reached behind her and brought out a small, metal canteen. "I was thirsty too, but they said this was only for you. They even had a guy in here to make sure I wouldn't drink it!" She huffed. "Those bastards," she muttered.

Moving a bit more, Ayden grabbed it in her hands, uncapped it, and brought it to her lips, drinking it greedily. However, a few seconds later into her drink, as the liquidized substance passed her tongue and flowed down her throat, her senses snapped as the realization came crashing onto her like a fallen chopper and she quickly threw the bottle to the other side of the cell.

"Oh, my God," she choked out, looking at the canteen with terrified eyes.

Rosalie, who had been lost in her own thoughts, snapped back into reality and looked at Ayden with concern-filled eyes as she noticed a bit of blood dripping from the young girl's mouth.

"Whoa! Hey! Are you okay? How are you bleedi—"

But Ayden cut her off with a stiff shake of her head. "It's not mine," she whispered.

Rosalie frowned in confusion, then glanced over at the other side of the cell, her eyes widening in shock and disbelief when she noticed the red substance oozing out of the open canteen. She looked back at Ayden, eyes still wide, before glancing back at the bottle in horror.

"Oh, my God," she whispered in realization, glancing back at Ayden. "They fed you...?"

Ayden nodded, swallowing hard, cringing slightly as the bloody taste in her mouth went down her throat and she made no attempt to spit it out. "That's not even the worst part," she mumbled.

"What?"

Ayden finally looked at Rosalie, straight in the eyes. "The worst part is, I liked it," she managed to choke out.

... some kind of vampiric super soldier...

Her hand flew to her mouth as she fought back tears. "What have they done to me?!" she croaked, sobbing tearlessly as Rosalie, though frightened as well at the possible answer, pulled her into her arms and embraced her carefully, as a mother would hold her child.

"Damian!" Elena cried out as her brother was thrown back into the cell he had been sharing with her a few days before.

"Elena!" He stumbled onto his feet, then rushed over to her and grabbed her face between his hands, looking for any scars, wounds or bruises. "They didn't hurt you did they? They didn't—"

"Я в порядке, брат. Они не коснулись меня, как они сделали тебе и Ayden." (I'm fine, brother. They haven't touched me like they did you and Ayden.) She frowned. "Слышали ли вы от нее? Что-нибудь?" (Have you heard from her? Anything?)

He let out a defeated breath, shaking his head as she let go of his sister. "I'm sorry."

She choked back a sob, placing her face between her hands. "Where are you, Ayden?" she whispered.

Damian sighed. He was just as distraught as his sister when it came to Ayden. The girl who claimed to dislike him so much, and yet happened to give herself up to save him. He groaned as he flopped onto the ground. However, a smirk made its way onto lips when his eyes caught sight of a broken piece of glass and a rock. Ignoring the glass, he grabbed the rock from the floor and started carving on the cell's rock wall.

"What are you doing?" Elena sniffled.

"I am currently weakened from the experimentation, but the results are meant to enhance my strength."

"That... doesn't explain anything."

"I'll try to start carving a way out. When my strength goes back to 'normal', we'll be out of here."

"Won't they notice a big hole in a stone cell."

He smirked. "I'm countin' on it."

"My parents were archaeologists." Rosalie smiled, her fingers absentmindedly fiddling with the young brunette's hair. "I had always admired their work and always wanted to go on adventures like the ones they went on when they were younger."

"Where are they now?" Ayden asked softly, looking up from where she laid in the older girl's arms.

Rosalie took a moment to answer. "They passed away on their last expedition. They were planning on coming to Yamatai next, but... since they didn't make it, I thought of coming here myself. You know... to honor them."

Ayden hummed in understanding. "I'm sorry you had to lose them. I know it's hard... losing someone you lo— care for deeply. But don't worry. You won't be disappointed; Yamatai is real."

Rosalie's brows shot upward in surprise. "Really?"

"Yup. I didn't get to see the whole thing— you know, the whole capturing thing." Rosalie nodded. "But I got to see part of the palace. It's really there."

Rosalie grinned and hugged Ayden, surprising the daylights out of her, even though she was already in her arms for practically the past two hours they'd spent awake in that cell, since they introduced each other, and Rosalie got her to take off the blindfold and open her eyes.

Suddenly, something was thrown into their cell, causing them to break apart. They glanced around in confusion, though their answer came as smoke began to fill the air, and Rosalie started feeling rather drunken, while Ayden was dragged into a dark, foggy abyss.

Rosalie was almost losing consciousness, though she seemed to fight it much harder when she noticed some guards, wearing masks, come in and begin to drag the younger girl out of the cell.

"Hey! Where are you taking her?" she meant to ask, but her words came out slurred and switched around: "Hey! We... you... her taking?"

One of the guards laughed, understanding what she was wondering even though her question had come out like that of a two-year-old.

"Don't worry your pretty little blonde head." She scowled. "We're just taking our asset—" Her scowl turned into a tired glare. "— out for some... physical training."

Knowing there was nothing she could do. Rosalie only continued to glare at the masked guard until she passed out from the toxic-scented gas, the last word she spoke being the young soldier's name.

"Ayden..."